In the opinion of St Peter Damian it is unnecessary and blameworthy curiosity to inquire into those things that the evangelists did not tell us, and he specifies the parentage of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an example. In this matter, those who judge differently can receive little satisfaction for their "curiosity". An apocryphal work, the Protevangelium of James, which, in spite of its name, has none of the authenticity of Holy Scripture, is with other similar apocryphal works the only source of information we have about the parents of Mary; even their traditional names, Joachim and Anne, must ultimately be traced to them. Of St Joachim, as of St Anne, we know absolutely nothing with certainty; but we are at liberty to retain as pious beliefs any thing in an uncanonical book that does not conflict with the teaching of the Church or with other certain truths, and it is a widely held tradition that our Lady was a child of promise as related in the so-called Gospel of James. This has been referred to herein under St Anne, on July 26.

The feast of both parents of the all-holy Mother of God has been observed in the East, on September 9, from early time, but in the West not till much later. That of St Joachim is not heard of before the fifteenth century, and its present date was fixed only in 1913. The Benedictines, as well as some Eastern Catholics celebrate Joachim and Anne together, on July 26.